Greetings, Poetry Lovers!
Can you believe we're sliding into the last week of January? I can't. But I sure have enjoyed ushering in 2020 with poetic, artistic surprises in the mailbox. The postcard poem swap, coordinated by the amazing Jone MacCulloch, is a fun way to celebrate a new decade's beginnings.
Jone tossed out a possible prompt/inspiration in the form of the Chinese New Year, and this year the animal star of the zodiac is... the Rat! The Lunar New Year officially begins this Saturday, the 25th, and celebrations will continue through Feb. 8th or 11th or so. (Unfortunately, the virus outbreak is curtailing much of the customary travel and plans in China... a logistically awful time for such a crisis.)
Here are the wonderful poem postcards which have scurried inside my door - some with whiskers and tails, others not, several in haiku, others not. Enjoy! (All poems are copyrighted by their authors.)
Linda Mitchell's colorful card features a fetching text-bodied, line drawn literary rat with a bit of fabled history (about the Jade Emporer and the animals seeking to be his guards.) Boxed in are these lovely words:
Some days we dash
to win the race.
Others, friends carry us
over dangerous rivers.
Each a heavenly gift.
Happy New Year, 2020.
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Irene Latham brings on some perfect January imagery:
Blades slice
easy 8s
across ice pond
You breathe
teeter
weave
arms tight
flung w i d e
tight again
Just you
with your tingly
truths
your deliberate
unmittened
heart
and a whirl
of white
waiting
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A Happy New Year 2020 Fireworks card from Kimberly M. Hutmacher offers these sparkling words:
Crackle, fizz, flash, bang!
Bold dreams bursting from the sky.
New hope springing forth!
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Rebecca Herzog is up to a little mischief:
little snow angel
with snowballs in mittened hands
devious device
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Margaret Simon takes on a triolet (I love triolets!)
In New Year's arms, we find a space
open for our thoughts to inspire,
dreams seeded in winter with grace.
In New Year's arms, we find a space
to refresh a lost sense of place,
and find hope for what we aspire.
In New Year's arms, we find this space
open for our thoughts to inspire.
(Margaret's words have been inspiring to me as I've been trying to wrangle order out of chaos in my studio, and also in my wee home office, where my computer is. Thanks for the timely encouragement, Margaret!)
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More literary collage fun from Kay McGriff! Her card features the image of a stack of books, against a backdrop of text from a Harry Potter volume....
stacks of books, rivers
of words beckon adventure
through the new year
(A little book spine poetry sandwiched in there, too?) :0)
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Jone MacCulloch shares her gorgeous photography along with this comforting poem:
incoming tide brings
words on waves
throughout the decade
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And Robert Ertman has a little fun in the natural world:
winterberry--
among fifty shades of brown
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I'm grateful to begin a new year - and new decade - with these fabulous people and lively poems! (A couple of folks on my "list" aren't represented; here's hoping nothing has gotten lost in the mail. We've had a few delivery mishaps this month....)
Our wonderful Kat Apel is hosting Poetry Friday this week; continued prayers and light to Autstralia and all her inhabitants, including Kat, and Sally, who hosted earlier this month.